Armored Soil

Join us while we celebrate 70 years of conservation in Renville County! In this episode we talk with the Chairman and Vice Chairman of the Renville County SWCD, and our County Commissioner liaison to the SWCD. To celebrate our anniversary, we reminisce on past events, uncover why our representatives felt called to serve, and most importantly – celebrate you! The landowners and operators of Renville County that allow us at the Soil and Water continue to our mission. Thank you for a great 70 years, and here’s to the next!

Join Renville SWCD district administrator, Holly Hatlewick, as she chats with farmer and seed dealer, TJ Kartes, about his experience with soil health practices personally and professionally. In this episode TJ will discuss:

Diversifying cover crops and cash crops

Keep it simple – each cover needs a purpose

Cereal cover crops before cereal cash crops

Keeping your purpose in mind when planting cover crops

Nutrient cycling in above ground biomass

Occasional soil and biomass testing to build personal dataset

Landlord and tenant relationships around soil health

Creative seeding solution

Join District Manager, Holly Hatlewick, as she talks with Phil and Robin Smith about their journey from a conventional farming system to a regenerative farming system in their 45 years of operating the farm! Discover how overtime Phil and Robin have added in soil health practices since 1992 as they have made agronomic and economic sense on their land. Phil and Robin will discuss:

- Unconventional livestock on their farm

- How to diversify from a corn and soybean rotation

- Equipment transitions from deep tillage to all no-till crops

- Changes to chemical necessities and application

- Mindset of yield maximization or profit maximization

Soil structure and health changes shaping agronomic decisions

Adding cover crops to unlock deeper soil health benefits

- Adjusting management for corn and cover crop residue

Join Pamela Winzenburg as she chats with Grant and Dawn Breitkreutz of Stony Creek Farms. The Breitkreutzes have transitioned from a conventional row crop and livestock operation to a regenerative agriculture system over the last 20 years. In this episode you will hear about:

• Their current row crop and cattle operation

• Finding a mentor at the beginning of their regenerative agriculture journey

• Continued support from mentors from beginning to end

• Impact of attending soil health focused meetings locally and nationally

• The levels of learning about soil health

• Cross-disciplinary conversations

Join Kyle, Brad, and Naomi Freyholtz as they talk in depth about how they have introduced livestock and many other soil health principles into their row crops and garden. In this episode you will hear them discuss:

• Current row crop practices & how they translated that to their garden

• Hogo-culture gardening

• Livestock & small grain opportunities

• Earthworm impacts & residue

• Cover crop mixes in row crops and garden

• Nutrients and soil testing

• Soil and plant resiliancy

• Future plans on the operation

Join Kyle as he talks with Joe Ailts, an independent agronomist from Northwest Wisconsin, with a passion for soil health. Kyle and Joe will discuss:

Join Holly Hatlewick as she talks with local grower Macius Schreoder about our third principal of soil health: diversity. Macius isn't afraid of any challenges when it comes to trying something new on his operation, especially when it comes to diversifying his cover crop mixes. Throughout the episode he will talk about:

Join us as we take a pause on the Soil Health Principles and gain a better understanding of the soil biology for your fields, garden, or even your flower beds. In this episode Kyle, Holly, and Pamela will discuss

Local grower, Erik Dean, talks about his journey from conventional farming to soil health focused farming in South Central MN. Erik has figured out how to utilize cover crop biomass and leaving crop residue on the surface to increase his soil armor.

Today we will meet Heidi from the Hawk Creek Watershed project and our first grower, Dean Dambroten. Dean is the 'financial manager' of the family farm in Western Renville County and is the 4th generation to farm the land. Dean will discuss the operation's: